Embodiments of the present invention pertain to a system and method of determining rotor loads and motion. In particular, embodiments of the present invention pertain to a system and method of determining helicopter rotor loads and motion using numerical analysis for low-rank matrices.
Important rotor systems loads and motions include blade flap, blade pitch, blade lead lag, main rotor shaft bending, main rotor shaft torque, and pitch rod loads. Knowledge of helicopter rotor system loads and motion enables usage-based maintenance, life-improving control, structural health monitoring, aircraft vibration control, and individual blade control. The abundance of uses for loads and motion information has motivated the development of sensors for rotor system loads and motion as well as the development of virtual sensing algorithms.